Abstract
Tolkien’s 1958 reference to Saruman in this address is due to more than just speech-making artistry; it reveals a sustained reading of Saruman as a blight upon nature. The metaphorical application of his name relies on a well-recognized set of attributed meanings, which—while not allegorical in the strict sense of the term—appear so fixed in Tolkien’s mind that explanation is hardly necessary. While Sauron’s threat has been nearly eliminated, Saruman has, through profligate means we can be sure, effectively given birth to a line of “descendants”; from him issues much that plagues humankind today. Tolkien likens Saruman to a long winter during which fecundity has been suppressed. To outlast him is to experience the revivification brought about by spring’s renewal.
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Vaccaro, C. (2017). Saruman’s Sodomitic Resonances: Alain de Lille’s De Planctu Naturae and J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings . In: Vaccaro, C., Kisor, Y. (eds) Tolkien and Alterity. The New Middle Ages. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61018-4_7
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